13-inch MacBook Pro With Retina Display First Impressions (Video)

The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is a pretty phenomenal machine, a model of engineering splendor. But the premium price is way out of range for even some prosumers, and the size isn’t ideal for frequent road warriors. Apple answered those concerns early this week, with an all new 13-inch model in an Ultrabook-like size.

The 13-inch model isn’t without its sacrifices — smaller resolution compared to the 15-inch, for one — but the same exact ports are present: SD slot, USB 3 x2, HDMI, MagSafe 2, headphone jack, Thunderbolt ports and dual mics. The base model — the model in our video — falls at $1,699, and comes equipped with a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 128GB SSD drive.

Of course, if you have a bit more cash, there’s a $1,999 iteration with boosted specs, and both are upgradeable if you need to tweak and customize. The lineup is quite obviously aimed at multimedia professionals, though the absence of a dedicated graphics card is pretty disappointing.

Still, we’re excited to put the machine through its paces, and see if that Retina display is worth the extra dough. Check out the video for a quick hands-on, and an explanation as to how the resolution translates to everyday experiences.